The long lockdown
:: Virus restrictions extended until May 5 :: Late Leaving Cert may delay start of school year :: Surgery waiting lists soar by 11,000 in a month :: 25 more deaths and 480 new cases confirmed
THE Government last night extended coronavirus lockdown measures by three weeks to May 5 – with little sign an end to the crisis is in sight.
It came as Leaving Cert students were told their exams have been moved to either late July or August, which could have the knock-on effect of a delayed start to the next second-level school year.
No specific date for the exams was given as Education Minister Joe McHugh said steps to reopen schools would only be taken when public health advice assured it was OK to do so.
And there was concern as the number on waiting lists for surgery has soared by a record 11,000 in just one month, to 77,748.
New figures showed there were 25 further deaths and 480 new cases yesterday. It also emerged 156 of all 288 deaths here were nursing home residents. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there was “no magic figure” that will dictate when the coronavirus restrictions can start to be lifted.
SHOPPERS wanting to go to their favourite stores were testing the patience of gardaí at Covid-19 checkpoints as efforts continued to persuade members of the public to stay at home to stop the spread of the virus.
More than 600 checkpoints are being manned by gardaí across the country over Easter to persuade the public not to travel outside the 2km restriction zone from their homes, unless they are in the exempt categories of motorists.
Major 24-hour checkpoints were set up on motorways and main arterial routes out of Dublin, and checkpoints were also implemented all over the country, with a particular focus on those leading to seaside resorts or beauty spots.
More than 500 checkpoints were set up on secondary routes to keep watch for people using back roads in the hope they would avoid the motorway checkpoints.
Operation Fanacht was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Wednesday and it will continue until midnight on Monday.
On the N11 and M11, stretching south from Donnybrook, in Dublin, the road was busier than expected for a bank holiday weekend during Covid-19 lockdown.
At Belfield at 11am four gardaí had established a checkpoint just beyond Montrose and were stopping every car traveling south.
One car that was forced to turn back onto the city-bound carriage was being driven by a man who lived in the city centre but who wanted to go to Cornelscourt Shopping
Centre to pick up some groceries.
“People who have a favourite or regular shop still want to go there, and we are explaining to them that there are dozens of shops closer to their homes,” said one garda after forcing the car to turn back.
Back down the line, another
garda was having a chat with a driver in a large, expensive SUV. “There’s a difference between an essential journey and a trip out of town to your favourite shop,” he told them before turning them back towards the city.
A cyclist on the cycle lane was queried about his journey, which was obviously one for exercise, but when it was established he was not far from home he was allowed to proceed. Further south on the M11 near Bray, just over the Wicklow border, a larger and more permanent checkpoint was being manned by seven gardaí under the supervision of Inspector Peter Woods, of the Roads Policing Division, based in Dublin Castle.
“There is a high degree of compliance, and people have letters from their employers or they are driving commercial vehicles,” he said.
But again, he noted it was shoppers looking to travel beyond their 2km range who were taking up the attention.
“We are turning the occasional car around but the drivers seem resigned to it when it happens. We’re not getting any anger back,” he said. Asked what levels of unreasonable behaviour his team had encountered in recent days he did not have to think for long.
“There was a guy from Templeogue who was driving all the way to Howth to buy some fish,” he said.
Back on the M11, a garda who had been questioning a man about the purpose of his journey asked him to pull over for a longer chat. He was eventually directed back to where he came from.
“He had lied when asked about his journey. He said he was going to see his sick grandmother who has cancer, and when I asked him to ring her he said he had no phone credit, so I rang the number from my phone and it turned out it was his mother and she was not sick at all,” the garda said afterwards.
Gardaí tried to reduce the size of tailbacks on motorways by setting up checkpoints near intersections with flyovers.
Anyone being asked to turn back was directed onto the slip roads to the flyovers, where other gardaí who were alerted by their colleagues would make sure they turned back as instructed.
“When you see two or more in a car you have to ask why,” said one garda.